Speaker - November 2008

^When ^Robin ^Sieger ^gave ^his ^first ^talk ^at ^a ^{gala dinner} ⁱⁿ ^1987, ^he ^didn’t ^consider ^speaking ^{as a} ^possible ^{profession—in} ^his ^native ^U.K., ^{that was} ^the ^province ^of ^professional ^athletes ^{and celebrities.}^W^{W W. SI E G E R I N T E R N A T I O N A L . C O M}^But ^with ^a ^background ⁱⁿ ^standup ^comedy, ^writing ^{and producing} ^for ^the ^BBC, ^and ^a ^positive ^attitude ^forged ^{through surviving} ^cancer ^at ^age ^29, ^he ^persisted ⁱⁿ ^sharing ^his ^{mes- sages} ^about ^success ^and ^peak ^performance. “^I ^gave ^my ^{first motivational} ^talk ⁱⁿ ¹⁹⁹¹ ^to ^a ^bunch ^of ^insurance ^guys,” ^he^Years ^using ^this ^model: ¹⁰^says. “^It ^was ¹⁹⁹⁷ ^before ^I ^got ^major ^conference ^work.” ^In ^1999, ^Sieger’s ^bestselling ^book, ^Natural ^Born ^Winners,_Annual _income: _$1 _{million, some} _of _which _is _licensing established his credibility as an expert, laying the foundation _fee _residuals_for _what _today _is _a _nearly _exclusive _focus _on _keynote _{speak- ing} _at _major _conferences _and _{presentations.} “_It _was _a _mat-_Staff: ₁ _in _{London, 1} _in _Chicago_ter _of _creating _a _brand _awareness _of _who _I _am,” _he _says. “_{My original} _approach _was _scattershot, _contacting _as _many _peo-_Number _of _speaking _dates _per _year: ₆₀ _keynotes, ₁₀ 5_ple, _speakers’ _bureaus _and _production _agencies _as _I _could—half-days but you’re one of hundreds. Once I was doing good work, the
focus became relationships.”
The learning curve, how-
ever, wasn’t short. Sieger spent
hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars on professional salespeo-
ple, brochures and mailing lists.
“Success eventually came about
from recognizing failures,” he
says. “When I sat down with
my business manager, it was
evident that we secured 90
percent of my engagements
through bureaus and 10 per-
cent directly from companies.”
There is, of course, no short-
cut to driving referrals. But
Sieger draws on the wisdom of

The Expert,
the Brand:
Robin Sieger
Sieger International

Business model profile: Concentrated almost exclusively on keynotes for major conferences and presentations.

Marketing efforts: Referrals, with a focus on visibility through articles in journals and authoring books.

Why you chose/developed this model: “My background was as a comedy writer and producer, so my brain was hard wired for the one-hour format—hold the audience’s attention and dislocate their expectations.”

Business philosophy: “Get the basics right—there are no shortcuts to success. The oldest truths tend to be the most practical—treat people as you like to be treated and be true to your word.”

Model’s pros and cons: “What you put in is what you get out. The downside is that you’re making an active decision to not go where many people do—but you can’t worry about the person who didn’t hire you.”

fellow standup comedian Jerry

How speaking fits the model: 60 percent from conference work, 30 percent from Internet training ( www.sieg-eronline.com), remainder from book publishing.

Seinfeld to indicate the route: “Work more. The more you work, the better you get,” Sieger says. “And the better you get, the easier it is for people to confidently refer you.”

Jake Poinier has been a full-time freelance writer since 1999. His magazine and newspaper credits include articles in USA Today and Golf Illustrated. He can be reached at jpoinier@cox.net.